The present invention relates to an improved drain assembly for a sink and a replacement deep-sink assembly utilizing the improved drain assembly.
Commercial establishments, such as restaurants, and institutions typically have sinks of large capacity to be able to wash dishes, pots, pans, and like items or to rinse such items of left-over materials prior to washing these items in automatic dishwashers. Because of the large capacities of these sinks and the chemicals employed in the washing or rinsing operation, the use of a simple stopper or stainer to plug up the drain opening of such sinks to fill the sinks with water are generally not used. Instead, these sinks have had manually operated valves installed in the drain lines from the sinks to open and close the drain lines. Typically, the valves have been provided as part of a drain assembly. For example, these valves have been of a stopper-type which employ a plunger having a head for sealing off a drain opening and a stem which depends through the opening into the drain line. In addition, these types of valves employ a lever system for moving the plunger up and down to open and close the drain assembly. Typically, these lever systems have a handle which can be manually operated by the user. In alternative constructions, the plunger may be actuated by a twisting motion utilizing a cam. Other valves have also been known which employ closure bodies with a through opening of rectangular or cylindrical shape so as to conduct a flow therethrough when in an open position. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,058,526, issued to Parisi et al., hereby incorporated by reference, discloses a drain assembly having a closure body with a cylindrical through opening. Various types of manual controls and handles have been provided for rotating the closure member between the open and closed positions when desired.
The drain assemblies of the prior art that utilize manually operated valves installed within the drain assembly are usually designed to have a single, vertical fluid path through the drain assembly. In other words, the prior art drain assemblies each have an inlet located at a hole in the bottom of the sink basin, and an outlet located several inches directly below the inlet. The valve and a means for operating the valve is located between the inlet and the outlet. If it is desired to alter the fluid path, for example to connect the drain to plumbing located in a wall behind the sink, an appropriately angled pipe fitting must be attached to the outlet of the drain assembly.
FIG. 1 shows a prior art drain assembly that has a single, vertical fluid path traveling through the drain assembly. Drain assembly 210 includes inlet 220 located at the top of the drain, and outlet 230 located at the bottom of the drain directly below inlet 220. The direction of the fluid path traveling through drain 210 is unaltered between inlet 220 and outlet 230. A valve is located within drain 210 to regulate the flow of fluid along the fluid path. Handle 240 is attached to the valve for easy opening and closing of the valve by an operator. Drain 210 includes an overflow inlet located on the side of the drain. Overflow inlet 225 is positioned to allow fluid traveling from an overflow drain located in the sink to bypass the valve of drain 210 and thus prevent overfilling and overflowing of the sink.
FIG. 3 shows inlet 220 of drain 210 attached to sink 250. The inlet of elbow 235 is attached to outlet 230 of drain 210. Elbow 235 comprises a pipe having a ninety degree bend to alter the direction of the fluid path exiting drain 210 from a vertical direction to a horizontal direction. The outlet of elbow 235 can be attached to a sewer pipe that connects to a sewer line. The sewer pipe ordinarily runs into the wall directly behind the sink. The height of this pipe is usually determined by the depth of the sink that is to be installed. It is preferable to maintain a sink working height C between thirty and thirty-four inches. Thus, the deeper the sink basin, the lower the sink-base height. Sewer pipe height A will generally be sink-base height B less the height of drain 210 and elbow 235.
Many restaurants and commercial kitchens are constructed to include a large capacity rinsing sink having a basin depth D of twelve to fourteen inches. To maintain a working height C of thirty-four inches for a sink having basin depth D of fourteen inches, results in a sink-base height B of twenty inches. Utilizing prior art drain 210 and elbow 235 with this assembly results in a sewer pipe height A of thirteen inches.
A common problem with the use of the combination of prior art drain 210 and elbow 235 results when a standard large capacity rinsing sink (i.e. basin depth D of fourteen inches) is to be replaced by an extra-large capacity sink for a pot and pan washing machine, such as the machine disclosed in this inventor""s U.S. Pat. No. 4,773,436, which is incorporated by reference herein. An extra-large capacity sink usually has a basin depth D of eighteen to nineteen inches. To maintain a working height C of thirty-four inches for a sink having basin depth D of eighteen inches, requires a sewer pipe height A of nine inches. If the original sink had a sewer pipe height A of thirteen inches, a significant amount of plumbing work is required to reconfigure the sewer line. This plumbing work often includes tearing out a portion of the wall behind the sink, reconfiguring the existing plumbing located behind the wall, and rebuilding the wall. The cost associated with reconfiguring existing plumbing usually ranges between $200 to $300 per installation. Thus, a significant cost savings could be achieved if the need to reconfigure the existing plumbing was eliminated.
In addition to the costs associated with reconfiguring existing plumbing, the use of the prior art drain and elbow combination with an extra-large capacity sink includes the disadvantage of reducing the amount of usable space located below the sink. Most commercial kitchen sinks require grease traps to catch the grease that is washed off of the pots and pans. Most standard grease traps are ten inches or more in height. As discussed above, to maintain a suitable working height C for sink 250, sewer pipe height A will be approximately nine inches. A standard grease trap will not be able to fit below such a sink configuration. Thus the grease trap must either be located in another location, wasting usable space, or a special low profile grease trap must be used. Low profile grease traps have a larger footprint than standard grease traps, and therefore have a lower height; however, low profile grease traps cost approximately twenty percent more than standard grease traps.
It is desirable to design an extra-large capacity sink and drain arrangement that can be used to replace an existing sink and drain configuration without requiring expensive reconfiguration of the existing plumbing. It is also desirable to design a drain that can be used in combination with a sink having a relatively deep basin to provide a maximum amount of usable space below the sink.
A principal object of the instant invention is to provide a drain-valve assembly for use in combination with a deep sink assembly that can provide a maximum amount of usable space below the sink. It is also an object of the instant invention to provide a drain-valve assembly that will eliminate the need for costly reconfiguring of existing plumbing when an existing sink is replaced with a deeper sink.
The above described objectives are achieved through the use of a drain assembly including a one piece hollow body, a valve within the body, and a mount to operably connect the valve to the body. The body includes an inlet, an outlet, and an inner wall positioned between the inlet and the outlet. A fluid path enters the inlet of the body in a first direction and is diverted to a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction by the inner wall. The fluid path then exits the outlet of the body in the second direction. The mount is located at least partially within the outlet.
The present invention diverts the fluid path within the drain assembly, thus eliminating the need for the separate elbow attachment located at the outlet of the prior art drains. The elimination of the elbow minimizes the difference between the height of the sewer pipe and the height of the sink-base. The use of the instant invention allows for the easy replacement of an existing sink with a new, deeper basin sink, without requiring reconfiguration of the existing plumbing. This results in a substantial cost and time savings to the installer.
The instant invention also increases the required sewer pipe height for deep basin sinks while maintaining a suitable working height for the sink. By increasing the sewer pipe height, the amount of usable space directly below the sink is maximized. The space directly below the sink can be used to store a grease trap, which is commonly used on most commercial sink assemblies.
The foregoing and other objects are intended to be illustrative of the invention and are not meant in a limiting sense. Many possible embodiments of the invention may be made and will be readily evident upon a study of the following specification and accompanying drawings comprising a part thereof. Various features and subcombinations of invention may be employed without reference to other features and subcombinations. Other objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein is set forth by way of illustration and example, an embodiment of this invention.